Happily Ever After
by Wizard of night
Summary: Just because the Lupin family survived the war doesn't mean they're entitled to a fairy-tale ending. Their fighting terrifies their young son, Teddy, and it falls on his godfather's already burdened shoulders to ensure his safety. Can Harry take it, or will the latest of their little suprises be the straw to break the camel's back? AU RL/NT
1. Chapter 1

**Alright- Former readers, Congratulations. I'm posting in series of about five, now, depending on how I want it to play out. I know chapters are still woefully short, but they will get dramatically longer, because I'm building them towards something. If you don't like it, don't read it, it's that simple. People who can put up with me, hope you enjoy!**

* * *

HARRY

_Sometimes I want to rip Remus and Tonks apart. Sometimes it's all I can do to keep them together. Sometimes, for Teddy's sake, I wish they hadn't survived the battle._

* * *

TEDDY

I only just noticed - When I feel all mixed up inside, my outside gets messed up too. My hair and eyes turn funny colors, and sometimes I cry. That's not supposed to happen, right?

* * *

HARRY

_One day, I took Teddy to the zoo. I knew they'd been fighting, because he gets really quiet, and he pulls on his hair. That day, I took him, and I got him his own phone. I know, a tiny little guy with a cell phone? But I wanted him to be able to call me if he needed me. _

* * *

TEDDY

My cell phone is black, and on a piece of tape inside by the screen, it has all the numbers I push to talk to Harry or Ginny when Mummy and Daddy yell. Harry says I probably shouldn't tell Mummy and Daddy I have it, but I don't understand why. Maybe if I didn't keep secrets, they wouldn't fight so much.

* * *

HARRY

_I know what you're thinking, "Why does a Wizarding family have a phone at all?" There are lots of reasons. I keep in touch with Dudley, I keep in touch with the Grangers, I use it for work. Aurors works often with muggle relations, when something happens involving them. As Deputy Head of Department, I speak with the Muggle Prime Minister a lot._

* * *

TEDDY

I don't always know for sure when to call Harry. But usually, Mummy and Daddy will be talking. Sometimes it's near a full moon, when Daddy gets all sick and mad. And Mummy will say something, and Daddy gets angry, and Mummy doesn't agree, so Daddy gets madder and they both stand right up by each other and yell loudly and wave their arms around. Then I feel sick and sneak upstairs. Or I listen, when they think I'm not. It scares me very much.


	2. Chapter 2

HARRY

_One day, the phone rang. I jogged downstairs with my robes buttoned wrong and my tie hanging out, half way through putting my pajamas on, and I only just answered in time. The minute I picked up, I knew who it was. I could hear them yelling in the background. And Teddy, he's sobbing. "Make them stop, Harry, Please come make them stop."_

* * *

TEDDY

If I call Harry, he'll talk to me, and he'll say nice things until they stop yelling. They don't usually yell for too long. But sometimes, I get so scared. I love Mummy, and I love Daddy, but sometimes I don't think they love each other at all. But when they get bad, and I start shaking and crying, then Harry comes over, and he fixes it. Then Mummy and Daddy all say "I'm Sorry", and they love each other again. Until next time.

* * *

HARRY

_When I have to charge in there like some pathetic superman to save Teddy, it aggravates me, but it doesn't. I never want Teddy to think I'm annoyed with him, because I'm not. I'd much rather he calls me. But I'm annoyed with the situation. Remus and Tonks can't keep doing this. They're killing him. And the worse thing is, I don't think they even realize it._

* * *

TEDDY

The one time Harry means, after things got quiet, I snuck downstairs. I took Stuffy, my bear, in case it was going to be scary. I couldn't find Daddy anywhere, but Mummy was all curled up on the floor. I knew she was sad, because her hair was brown. Mummy's hair gets brown when she cries, just like mine.

* * *

HARRY

_That day, I went to their house, and I knocked on the door, but no one answered. Sometimes when I have to run over there, you can hear them shouting from the apparition point, the alley a few houses down. But today, it was quiet. So I unlocked the door with my wand and went in._


	3. Chapter 3

TEDDY

I don't even know what they fight about. I know we don't have a lot of money, and that makes Daddy unhappy because he thinks if he got a job we'd be happier. Then Mummy tells him to "shut up you bloody noble prat", and Daddy tells her she doesn't understand, and then Mummy yells and Daddy gets upset and Mummy cries and Daddy shouts and Mummy screams back. Or sometimes something else.

* * *

HARRY

_Remus was nowhere in sight, but I found Tonks and Teddy asleep on the floor. Tonks had makeup smeared all over her face, running in tear tracks down her cheeks, and she had her arms hugged around herself. Teddy- and this was the saddest, most miserable, cutest thing I've ever seen- was curled up next to her. He'd been crying too, and one arm was wrapped around the leg of this brown bear he carries around, Stuffy, who was also being used as a pillow for his little head. And his other arm was around his mother. He'd been trying to comfort her when they fell asleep._

* * *

TEDDY

When Harry has to come after they fight, I never have to stay with Mummy and Daddy. He gives me the choice. When I'm so scared and I don't want to, because I think maybe they'll start yelling again, Harry lets me stay with him. I have my own room at his house, but sometimes I sleep downstairs on the couch or in bed with Harry and Ginny. Or, sometimes I go and stay with Gran, but I don't like that because she says lots of bad things about Daddy, and that makes me more sad. Sometimes, though, I stay with Granmum Molly, and that's good because she'll make me cookies and tea with lots of milk and honey. But mostly, I just tell Harry I'll stay at home, because when I leave, Mummy will stand at the window and watch me through the curtains, and she'll always be crying. I think it hurts her feelings, when I go to stay with someone else.

* * *

HARRY

_I woke them up, and I told Teddy to go get his overnight bag. I wasn't really giving him the choice tonight. Tonks was in no fit state for parenting. Once Teddy was gone, she burst into tears all over again. I asked where Remus was, and she had no idea. I get the impression he stormed out and ran somewhere. Remus does that when he gets upset, just goes off somewhere to cool down and stays there- sometimes for days. It destroys Tonks, it really does, but it's harder to see what it does to Teddy. I know, beneath all that sweet innocence and resilience, he's confused and hurting. It kills me. It kills us all._


	4. Chapter 4

TEDDY

My overnight bag is special. It's a dark blue backpack with wheels and turquoise straps. We always keep it packed, in case we have to me to Harry's house quickly when they fight. It has some of my favorite pajamas, right now it's a pair of the ones with the turquoise stripes, and the fleecy ones with the pictures of dragons. It has a pair of clothes for me too, so I can get dressed again in the morning. I know Harry made sure he put my dark blue Puddlemere United t-shirt with the emblem of crossed bulrushes in there the last time, which is good, because a lot of the time when I stay with him for all of the next day, he'll take me to a Quidditch game. Sometimes a Puddlemere United game, because his friend Mr. Wood and Auntie Angelina play on it, or Holyhead Harpies because that's what Ginny plays. But it's usually a Puddlemere United one, because Ginny likes to sit with us.

* * *

HARRY

_It's the worst when Remus takes off for more than a week, because then I have to go and find him. He's got his common haunts; The Shrieking Shack, his parents' old house, Kingsley's place or sometimes even my house. But sometimes he aparates himself off to some random forest in the middle of a whacked distant country, and it takes me ages to find him. This is really a problem around full moon, because he forgets his potions, and there's not a huge supply of Wolfsbane in random forests in the middle of whacked distant countries._

* * *

TEDDY

I keep one or two of my favorite bed time stories in there too, but it's okay if I forget because Harry has plenty at his house, just for me. I always feel safe when Harry or Ginny reads to me, and these are usually safe stories, where nothing bad or scary happens. The other thing I keep in my backpack is a picture of Mummy and Daddy and me. In it, I'm really tiny. I'm just a baby, and I'm on a big yellow blanket on a picnic in a grassy green field. I've got on this big red hat, and you can just see pieces of turquoise hair sticking out under the brim. Daddy's lying on his side on the blanket, and he's helping me sit up because I'm not too good at it yet. Mummy is sitting on the blanket next to us, and she's smiling really big and tickling under my chin, and I'm laughing and Daddy's happy too. It's a good picture because it reminds me when they've been fighting that really, they love each other, they just forget it sometimes.

* * *

HARRY

_Teddy comes down the stairs lugging his backpack behind him and clutching Stuffy in a death grip. I don't know what he would do if it weren't for that bear. Ron and Hermione got it for him for his first birthday, and for a few months after he wasn't really interested, but now he hardly ever puts it down. When Teddy's happy, Stuffy gets rides where Teddy swings him around or walks him to the park. When Teddy's angry, Stuffy sits and watches the red-haired little guy punch a pillow or pout. If Teddy's sad, Stuffy plays the part of handkerchief, and Teddy buries his face in his fur while he cries. Stuffy is Teddy's best friend, and I think we'd all be a little lost without him._


	5. Chapter 5

TEDDY

Tonight, after Harry picked me up, we drove in his muggle car to Granmum Molly's. When we got there, Uncle Bill and Aunt Fleur and my friend little Victiore were there to visit. Harry said to go play with Victiore for a little while whilst the adults had a little talk. That happens a lot when Harry comes and picks me up. Mostly after I'm supposed to be asleep, but sometimes I'll get scared or thirsty or I'll have to go to the toilet, and when I tip-toe downstairs they'll be talking, and I'll hear my name, or Mummy's real name which is Tonks or sometimes Nymphadora, or Daddy's real name which is Remus. I don't know what the grown-ups say about us, but they always get really quiet when they realize I'm listening, so I don't think it's a lot of good things.

HARRY

_There's currently a bit of a debate going on amongst us "grown-ups". There's an awful lot we don't agree on in regards to Teddy, and not much that we do. There are so many Weasleys, with so many opinions, and there's not much we can agree on. If anything's common ground, it's that something has to change. We can't just go on the way we are. The funny thing there is, everyone gets awfully quiet when it comes to ways we can make it better. _

TEDDY

I told you, didn't I? It only took about thirteen minutes before Grandma Molly came out of the kitchen and closed the door behind her, because the other grown-ups were still talking. She let me and Victiore sit together on the floor, and she gave us my favorite chocolate chip cookies that she makes and tea in grown-up mugs, and she lets us put in as much honey as we want. She even let me try to do it myself, and even though I dripped sticky gold syrup all over the floor, and got my hands all sticky and spilled a tiny bit on Victiore's pink pajamas, she just wiped it up and didn't even yell at me. I don't think she got it all out of my hair, though, and now it feels all stiff and sticky.


	6. Chapter 6

HARRY

_Some of our family think if we just leave it as it is for a bit, things will just even out on their own. Obviously, that's not the best solution. One day, when she was with me and we picked Teddy up, sobbing and with a black eye because he tripped and fell into a railing trying to run away and hide, Hermione was really angry and suggested we report them to child services. I reckon those who had never come into contact with muggle government thought she was off her rocker, raving about foster care and T.P.R.s. But obviously, that won't do it either. We're not that desperate yet, not by a long stretch. At least, I don't think we are._

TEDDY

Sometimes, I try to talk to Victiore about what happens when Mummy and Daddy fight, but she doesn't get it. She wants to know why they don't just say sorry and not yell anymore. Her parents don't fight. I don't think anyone else has parents like mine. My friend Trey lives next door and is a whole three years older than me, and he knows about everything. He said that when his parents fought, they got a divorce. I didn't know what that meant at first. I thought it was a good thing, like a medicine that keeps Mummies and Daddies from fighting. But then he told me it meant his Daddy didn't live with his Mum anymore, and that his Daddy moved to another country and just sends money so his Mum can buy him clothes and stuff, and Trey and his big sister Kelly don't get to see him anymore. Now, part of the thing I'm scared of when my parents fight is that they'll get a divorce and I'll never see Daddy again. Sometimes, when Daddy leaves after they fight, I have to sit outside or by the window and wait for him to come home so I know they didn't get one already. I'm always afraid they really did, and Daddy's never going to come home, so I always run and hug him when he comes back again.

HARRY

_It took a few minutes, but Ginny came charging in the back door, looking like she'd just run a mile; covered in sweat with her hair all over. I take it she got my message (Patronus, not phone.) "The floo works perfectly well," I told her, but she didn't seem to hear me. "Where is he?" she pants, and I know she means Teddy, although I'm more worried about figuring out what happened to Remus (full moon's the day after tomorrow). I sort of nod at the sitting room, and he's kneeling on the floor spooning honey on to his chocolate chip cookies with Victiore, Stuffy and his bag discarded nearby. "He's alright?" Ginny pants. "He's used to it by now," I remind her. And then we stare at each other, eyes wide at what exactly I just said, without even thinking about it. _

TEDDY

Sometimes, things that start out fun and wonderful just turn into a big mess. The cookies were so good, and they were fun to eat, but now, everything's different. There's honey smeared all up my arms and dripped on my pants and rubbed into the carpet and Victiore's hair. I think I had too many, because my tummy hurts, but they were so good, I still want more. But Victiore's fussing and I'm crying, and I try to explain it all to Harry when he and Ginny come in to see what's wrong. I don't think he understands, though, because he says to Ginny, "Sounds like Remus and Tonks's marriage." That doesn't make any sense. How are Mummy and Daddy anything at all like Grandma Molly's cookies?


End file.
